Hogar is a half-orc Beastmaster Ranger on a quest to destroy Orcus the Demon Prince of the Undead. This is his journal, recounting the exploits of Hogar and his companions on their quest.

9th Day of Meloramensis – Part I

Hogar’s Journal (Translated from Giant)

Year
781 of the founding of the City

9th
Day of Meloramensis – Part I

Thunderspire
Mountain – En Route to the Seven Pillared Hall

As we
returned from fetching the stray humans to Mirklemoor’s chambers Rodney
presented me with an amulet and the slavemaster’s flame enchanted maul. As no-one else had use for them he offered to
transfer the enchantment from the maul to my bow and let me keep the
amulet. I’m starting to like that mage.

As none
of the others seem to know how to find north on a map it was up to me to lead
us home. This wouldn’t normally be a
problem but it’s very difficult to navigate when people continually wander off
ahead of you. The dwarf marched off into
the distance as soon as we had left the reservoir, he is clearly feeling much
better.

The
tunnel that the humans pointed out to us was well travelled and lit at regular
intervals by well maintained torches.
For several hours all was well as we followed the tunnel through
countless junctions. After a while the
torches ran out and the natural gloom of the caverns closed in around us.

The
cave widened out into a large chamber.
In the gloom I could make out numerous skeletons scattered about the
floor, some dwarven some human. They all
seemed to have collapsed straight down from a standing position as though their
legs had suddenly failed them.

At the
far end of the room was a corridor just wide enough to allow us to move along
it two abreast. As we moved closer I
noticed what appeared to be three skeletons floating in mid air a few feet into
the passage. Eligos and Minron led the
way as we moved up to investigate.

Before
we knew what was happening Eligos and Minron were engulfed in some sort of
gelatinous fluid that caused their skin to sizzle and blister. Suddenly three wraiths emerged from the cube
to viciously attack Glen and Vic whilst the cube carried Eligos and Minron
further into the corridor.

The
wraiths flitted in and around the rest of us, disappearing through the walls of
the corridor only to reappear somewhere else entirely. Rarely did they remain
in one place long enough for us to strike them.
Even when someone did manage to land a blow it had little effect on
their insubstantial forms.

Rodney
raised his arms above his head and in response an imp materialised behind the
cube, it struck the cube with a bolt of energy and then vanished into thin
air. In response the cube moved towards
us once again as the wraiths continued to menace us from the rear. Gradually the wraiths and the cube were
combining to force us all into an ever decreasing space.

Unable
to use my bow in such cramped conditions I drew my sword to fend off our
assailants whilst trying to manoeuvre myself into a position where I could
shoot effectively. My efforts were
greatly aided by Glen who dropped himself into a ready stance and slammed the
butt of his ugrosh into the floor. By
some power unknown to me the wraiths and the cube were all drawn to him to be
met by the vicious welcome of his axe blade.

Glen’s
attack bought Minron the distraction he needed to escape the cube’s hold. A sound akin to the gurgle of a freshly
drained ale barrel announced the emergence of the minotaur from the side of the
cube. He landed on his hands and knees
with a slap as acidic ooze dripped from every inch of his body, fizzing and
popping on the flagstones as it landed.

The
minotaur hauled himself to his feet and roared at the cube. As he did so lightning streaked forth from
his open maw. The bolt passed through
everything in the corridor, living or dead before coalescing into one fearsome
bolt which slammed into the cube invoking a thunderclap that left all other
sound superfluous. The impact of the
electricity reverberated through the cube and plumes of steam rose gently from
its sizzling form.

Glen
continued his relentless pursuit of the wraiths until, faced with the deadly
onslaught of his blade they retreated behind the cube. Rodney took advantage of the close proximity
of our assailants and engulfed all of them in a jet of flame. The cube was largely unaffected by the flames
and responded by engulfing the unfortunate mage.

Rodney’s
discomfort was not to last long however.
The retreat of the wraiths had bought me enough space to draw my
bow. I wasted no time in sending a shaft
into the cube. The effect was
devastating. As the arrow buried itself
in the gelatinous mass the cube solidified as if frozen and then shattered into
countless tiny fragments.

Rodney
and Eligos fell to the ground amidst the shower of crystallised acid and
immediately leapt to their feet to join in the attack on the wraiths. Partially insubstantial as they were the
wraiths were still fighting a losing battle as the combined might of the party
wore them down. The fight was brought to
a conclusion as Rodney encased all three of them in solid ice. Blade, bow and magic bolt them finished them
off. As their icy shells fractured feint
wisps of smoke floated towards the ceiling.

As the
smoky forms passed through the roof of the passage a feint voice came to us as
though carried on a breeze;

“Thank you”.

Rodney
later informed me that the wraiths were the souls of the cubes previous victims
trapped inside their killer and driven insane over time.

Having
survived our detour and ambush we are now ready to retrace our steps and find
our way to the Seven Pillared Hall. We
should be fine, as I keep telling Glen, I’m pretty sure I know where I went
wrong last time.